Satellite radios employ an antenna to transmit and receive signals, and require high gain to communicate with geosynchronous satellites. A number of antennas have been developed in the past for satellite radios but most are relatively large and bulky, they must be unloaded from a container, backpack or the like and then assembled for use. Conventionally, it takes tens of minutes to deploy a TACSAT antenna, and it is not unusual for a soldier or other operator of a satellite radio to begin using it before the antenna is fully assembled. In many military operations and other situations, time is of the essence and it is highly desirable to substantially reduce the time required to deploy, and more so to stow, the antenna.
As noted above, the stowed size of typical TACSAT antennas is large and bulky. Efforts to reduce the stowed size have typically resulted in decreased gain of the antenna which, in turn, degrades performance of the satellite communications link. Additionally, the smaller the stowed size of the antenna, the higher its cost. It is not unusual for TACSAT antennas to be priced at several thousand dollars per unit, while still suffering from problems of large stowed size and insufficient gain.